George Orwell - Exam
George Orwell
  • 1. In which year was George Orwell born?
A) 1910
B) 1920
C) 1945
D) 1903
  • 2. What is George Orwell's real name?
A) Alexander Pushkin
B) Winston Churchill
C) Eric Arthur Blair
D) George Herman Ruth Jr.
  • 3. Where was George Orwell born?
A) France
B) India
C) England
D) USA
  • 4. Which war did George Orwell fight in?
A) Gulf War
B) Spanish Civil War
C) Vietnam War
D) World War I
  • 5. Which other famous author was a close friend of George Orwell?
A) Aldous Huxley
B) J.K. Rowling
C) Jane Austen
D) Stephen King
  • 6. What is the subtitle of George Orwell's novel 'Animal Farm'?
A) A Science Fiction Novel
B) A Fairy Story
C) A Historical Biography
D) A Thriller
  • 7. What is the first name of the protagonist in '1984'?
A) Tom
B) Sam
C) Winston
D) Rick
  • 8. What was George Orwell's job in Burma?
A) Pilot
B) Police Officer
C) Chef
D) Architect
  • 9. What is the name of the farm in the novel 'Animal Farm'?
A) Green Pastures Farm
B) Manor Farm
C) Happy Farm
D) Paradise Meadows Farm
  • 10. What is the fictional language created by George Orwell in '1984'?
A) Cooltalk
B) Newspeak
C) Dreamwords
D) Wordplay
  • 11. What is the name of the leader of Animal Farm?
A) Alexander
B) Julius
C) Abraham
D) Napoleon
  • 12. In which year did George Orwell pass away?
A) 1960
B) 1950
C) 1970
D) 1980
  • 13. What pen name did Eric Arthur Blair use for his writing?
A) George Orwell
B) Arthur Orwell
C) Eric Blair
D) E.A. Blair
  • 14. In which year was George Orwell's dystopian novel 'Nineteen Eighty-Four' published?
A) 1950
B) 1949
C) 1945
D) 1938
  • 15. What is the title of George Orwell's work that documents his experience in industrial Northern England?
A) Homage to Catalonia
B) The Road to Wigan Pier
C) Nineteen Eighty-Four
D) Animal Farm
  • 16. Which term, coined by George Orwell, describes totalitarian and authoritarian social practices?
A) Orwellian
B) Big Brother
C) Doublethink
D) Newspeak
  • 17. Who was George Orwell's principal tutor at Eton?
A) A. S. F. Gow
B) Steven Runciman
C) Aldous Huxley
D) Cyril Connolly
  • 18. What was George Orwell's father's occupation in the Indian Civil Service?
A) Sub-Deputy Opium Agent
B) Teacher
C) Lawyer
D) Doctor
  • 19. Where did Eric Blair first meet Cyril Connolly?
A) Wellington College
B) St Cyprian's School
C) Henley-on-Thames school
D) Eton College
  • 20. Which school did George Orwell attend as a day student at age five?
A) St Cyprian's School
B) A Catholic convent in Henley-on-Thames
C) Wellington College
D) Eton College
  • 21. What was the relationship between George Orwell and Jacintha Buddicom?
A) Teacher-student
B) Classmates only
C) Cousins
D) Adolescent sweethearts
  • 22. Which school did Eric Blair attend after St Cyprian's and before Eton?
A) Henley Grammar School
B) Wellington College
C) Shiplake College
D) Harrow School
  • 23. What was the name of George Orwell's essay based on his time at St Cyprian's?
A) The Road to Wigan Pier
B) Homage to Catalonia
C) Animal Farm
D) Such, Such Were the Joys
  • 24. Which of George Orwell's works is an account of his experiences in the Spanish Civil War?
A) Nineteen Eighty-Four
B) Homage to Catalonia
C) Animal Farm
D) The Road to Wigan Pier
  • 25. What was George Orwell's family background described as?
A) Working-class
B) Middle-class
C) Upper-class
D) Lower-upper-middle class
  • 26. What was the name of George Orwell's first published magazine at Eton?
A) The Election Times
B) Eton Wall Game
C) Bubble and Squeak
D) College Days
  • 27. Which university did George Orwell not attend due to financial constraints?
A) Oxford University
B) University of London
C) None, he did not go to university
D) Cambridge University
  • 28. What was the profession of George Orwell's grandfather, Thomas Richard Arthur Blair?
A) Lawyer
B) Opium agent
C) Teacher
D) Anglican clergyman
  • 29. In which year did George Orwell join the Indian Imperial Police in Burma?
A) 1925
B) 1930
C) 1922
D) 1919
  • 30. What was the name of the ship on which George Orwell sailed to Burma?
A) SS India
B) SS Empire
C) SS Herefordshire
D) SS Britannia
  • 31. Where did George Orwell receive his police training in Burma?
A) Mandalay
B) Rangoon
C) Maymyo
D) Katha
  • 32. What was the monthly salary of George Orwell when he completed his training?
A) Rs. 600
B) Rs. 740
C) Rs. 800
D) Rs. 525
  • 33. Which town in Burma was known for having the refinery of the Burmah Oil Company?
A) Katha
B) Syriam
C) Moulmein
D) Maymyo
  • 34. What did George Orwell adopt in Burma that he kept for the rest of his life?
A) A beard
B) Sideburns
C) No facial hair
D) A pencil moustache
  • 35. What did George Orwell's tattoos look like?
A) Small untidy blue circles on each knuckle
B) Stars on his shoulders
C) Dragon designs on his arms
D) Crosses on his wrists
  • 36. In which month and year did George Orwell resign from the Indian Imperial Police?
A) March 1928
B) July 1927
C) December 1929
D) September 1926
  • 37. Which novel by George Orwell was based on his experiences in the Burma police?
A) Homage to Catalonia
B) Burmese Days
C) Animal Farm
D) 1984
  • 38. What did George Orwell write about his experience of executing a prisoner?
A) Burmese Days
B) "A Hanging"
C) Keep the Aspidistra Flying
D) "Shooting an Elephant"
  • 39. Which ethnic group's churches did George Orwell attend in Burma?
A) Karen
B) Indian
C) Burmese
D) Chinese
  • 40. What was the name of the town where George Orwell's maternal grandmother lived?
A) Katha
B) Rangoon
C) Maymyo
D) Moulmein
  • 41. Which author did Orwell consider to be about as good a novelist as one can be today, despite holding 'untenable opinions'?
A) Evelyn Waugh
B) Graham Greene
C) Mark Twain
D) Herman Melville
  • 42. Which city did Orwell visit quickly after his stay in Wigan?
A) Liverpool
B) Barnsley
C) Sheffield
D) Manchester
  • 43. Who described George Orwell and Richard Rees as 'moth-eaten and prematurely aged'?
A) Rosalind Obermeyer
B) Mabel Fierz
C) Cyril Connolly
D) Elizaveta Fen
  • 44. Which political leader's military uprising concerned Orwell in 1936?
A) Oswald Mosley
B) Harry Pollitt
C) John Strachey
D) Francisco Franco
  • 45. Who visited Orwell in March 1949 at the sanatorium?
A) Eileen Blair
B) Sonia Brownell
C) Ann Popham
D) Celia Kirwan
  • 46. Where did George Orwell return to England from in December 1929?
A) Paris
B) London
C) Bramley
D) Southwold
  • 47. Which journal published George Orwell's first article as a professional writer?
A) New Adelphi
B) Le Progrès Civique
C) G. K.'s Weekly
D) Monde
  • 48. Which government department did Celia Kirwan work for when she visited Orwell?
A) Home Office
B) Information Research Department (IRD)
C) Foreign Office
D) Ministry of Defence
  • 49. What was the title of George Orwell's first published essay in English?
A) "How the Poor Die"
B) "La Censure en Angleterre"
C) "The Spike"
D) "A Farthing Newspaper"
  • 50. Who helped Orwell secure accommodation on the island of Jura?
A) Barbara Ward
B) Isaac Deutscher
C) E. H. Carr
D) David Astor
  • 51. Who ran the second-hand bookshop where Orwell worked?
A) Jon Kimche
B) Francis and Myfanwy Westrope
C) Richard Rees
D) Nellie Limouzin
  • 52. In which year was Orwell listed at number 8 on the BBC's The Big Read poll?
A) 2011
B) 2003
C) 1984
D) 2021
  • 53. Who complimented George Orwell's 'clarity and good sense' in a review of 'Down and Out in Paris and London'?
A) T. S. Eliot
B) Richard Rees
C) Cecil Day-Lewis
D) Max Plowman
  • 54. Which magazine accepted George Orwell's work "The Spike" for publication?
A) New Adelphi
B) Le Progrès Civique
C) G. K.'s Weekly
D) Monde
  • 55. Which hospital did George Orwell go to when he fell seriously ill in February 1929?
A) Portobello Road Hospital
B) Hôpital Cochin
C) Rue du Pot de Fer Clinic
D) Southwold General Hospital
  • 56. Who found George Orwell a flat in Parliament Hill?
A) Mabel Fierz
B) Francis Westrope
C) Nellie Limouzin
D) Rosalind Obermeyer
  • 57. Which novel did George Orwell's experiences at the bookshop contribute to?
A) Keep the Aspidistra Flying
B) Animal Farm
C) 1984
D) Burmese Days
  • 58. Where did Orwell move to live on 22 May 1946?
A) Manchester
B) London
C) Barnhill, Jura
D) Shanghai
  • 59. What was the title of George Orwell's first article to appear in England?
A) "A Farthing Newspaper"
B) "How the Poor Die"
C) "The Spike"
D) "La Censure en Angleterre"
  • 60. What illness did George Orwell contract after a motorcycle trip that developed into pneumonia?
A) Influenza
B) Tuberculosis
C) A chill
D) Bronchitis
  • 61. Where did George Orwell settle back into after returning to England?
A) A cottage near Cambridge
B) A flat in London
C) An apartment in Paris
D) The family home at Southwold
  • 62. Who was the clergyman's daughter that George Orwell became acquainted with in Southwold?
A) Mabel Fierz
B) Brenda Salkeld
C) Eleanor Jacques
D) Ruth Pitter
  • 63. What new medicine was used to treat Orwell's tuberculosis?
A) Morphine
B) Aspirin
C) Streptomycin
D) Penicillin
  • 64. What was the side effect Orwell experienced from streptomycin treatment?
A) Anemia
B) Toxic epidermal necrolysis
C) Diabetes
D) Hypertension
  • 65. Who did Orwell marry on 9 June 1936?
A) Aunt Nellie
B) Sylvia Townsend Warner
C) Joan Rees
D) Eileen O'Shaughnessy
  • 66. What type of man did Orwell associate the face he saw in Dickens's writing with?
A) A nineteenth-century liberal, a free intelligence
B) A religious zealot
C) A conservative traditionalist
D) An indifferent observer
  • 67. Where did George Orwell stay when he first arrived in Manchester?
A) In Wigan
B) A common lodging-house
C) Over a tripe shop
D) At Aunt Nellie's cottage
  • 68. What was the reason Victor Gollancz turned down 'Burmese Days'?
A) Potential suits for libel
B) Poor writing quality
C) Lack of interest in the subject matter
D) Financial constraints
  • 69. What activity did Orwell enjoy outside of writing, as revealed four years later?
A) Cooking
B) Hunting
C) Fishing
D) Gardening
  • 70. Which publishing house published 'Down and Out in Paris and London' on 9 January 1933?
A) Harper & Brothers
B) Victor Gollancz Ltd
C) Faber & Faber
D) Adelphi
  • 71. In which arrondissement of Paris did George Orwell live during early 1928?
A) 5th arrondissement
B) 3rd arrondissement
C) 9th arrondissement
D) 7th arrondissement
  • 72. Who were George Orwell's flatmates at 50 Lawford Road?
A) Michael Sayers and Rayner Heppenstall
B) Francis Westrope and Myfanwy Westrope
C) Rosalind Obermeyer and Elizaveta Fen
D) Jon Kimche and Richard Rees
  • 73. Which author did Orwell describe as a 'good bad poet'?
A) G. K. Chesterton
B) Rudyard Kipling
C) Henry Miller
D) Evelyn Waugh
  • 74. What did Gollancz add to 'The Road to Wigan Pier' while Orwell was in Spain?
A) A foreword by Richard Rees
B) An introduction by John McNair
C) A disculpatory preface
D) A chapter on the Spanish Civil War
  • 75. What was the subject that became George Orwell's obsessive focus in his writings?
A) War
B) Poverty
C) Literature
D) Politics
  • 76. What was Sonia Brownell's health condition when she settled out of court in 1980?
A) She was hospitalized
B) She was becoming increasingly ill
C) She was in perfect health
D) She had fully recovered
  • 77. Which writer did Orwell criticize for devoting himself to 'Roman Catholic propaganda'?
A) Ralph Waldo Emerson
B) George Gissing
C) G. K. Chesterton
D) Arthur Koestler
  • 78. Which writer did George Orwell mention as the modern writer who influenced him most?
A) James Joyce
B) T. S. Eliot
C) D. H. Lawrence
D) W. Somerset Maugham
  • 79. Which organization was Orwell mistakenly thought to need papers from for crossing into Spain?
A) The Independent Labour Party
B) The Communist Party of Great Britain
C) The Special Branch
D) Some left-wing organisation
  • 80. In what year was Orwell's essay 'British Cookery' discovered in the British Council's archives?
A) 2000
B) 1946
C) 2019
D) 1984
  • 81. Which author did George Orwell admire and imitate when exploring poorer parts of London?
A) Ruth Pitter
B) Max Plowman
C) Henri Barbusse
D) Jack London
  • 82. What was the name of the tea-house run by George Orwell's sister Avril in Southwold?
A) A bookstore
B) A café
C) A bakery
D) A tea-house
  • 83. What did Orwell's list, given to Celia Kirwan, consist mainly of?
A) Writers with pro-communist leanings
B) Anti-war activists
C) Communist leaders
D) British politicians
  • 84. Where did George Orwell live while working at the bookshop?
A) Warwick Mansions, Pond Street
B) Parliament Hill
C) University College London
D) Lawford Road, Kentish Town
  • 85. What was the name of the group Orwell was a leading figure in?
A) Shanghai Club
B) London Writers' Guild
C) Leftist Journalists Union
D) British Authors Society
  • 86. When did George Orwell stop working at Booklovers' Corner?
A) August 1935
B) Beginning of February 1935
C) End of January 1936
D) June 1935
  • 87. Who shared the job with George Orwell at Booklovers' Corner?
A) Mabel Fierz
B) Jon Kimche
C) Cyril Connolly
D) Richard Rees
  • 88. What type of writing did George Orwell continually support himself through?
A) Book-reviewing
B) Poetry
C) Novel-writing
D) Playwriting
  • 89. Which illness did Orwell suffer from in February 1946?
A) Pneumonia
B) Tubercular haemorrhage
C) Influenza
D) Bronchitis
  • 90. What was the name of the cartoonist who drew strips for Animal Farm?
A) Norman Pett
B) Jim Davis
C) Gary Larson
D) Charles Schulz
  • 91. Where was the Adelphi Summer School held in 1936?
A) Langham
B) Wigan
C) Sheffield
D) Manchester
  • 92. Who gave George Orwell social and financial support while he lived in Paris?
A) Ruth Pitter
B) His aunt Ellen (Nellie) Kate Limouzin
C) Max Plowman
D) Henri Barbusse
  • 93. Where did Orwell go for a sanatorium treatment in January 1949?
A) Shanghai
B) London
C) Cranham, Gloucestershire
D) Manchester
  • 94. Who helped George Orwell find lodgings when he moved to London?
A) John Middleton Murry
B) Henri Barbusse
C) Ruth Pitter
D) Ellen Limouzin
  • 95. Who diagnosed Orwell with tuberculosis in December 1947?
A) David Astor
B) A chest specialist from Glasgow
C) An unnamed local doctor
D) Dr. John Smith
  • 96. Who did Orwell apply to unsuccessfully for papers to go to Spain?
A) Frank Meade
B) Harry Pollitt
C) Victor Gollancz
D) John McNair
  • 97. Which author did Orwell NOT mention in his essay on Charles Dickens?
A) Fielding
B) Swift
C) Hemingway
D) Defoe
  • 98. What was the name of Orwell's cottage in Wallington, Hertfordshire?
A) Headingley House
B) Langham Cottage
C) The Stores
D) Bryn Hall
  • 99. Which coal mine did Orwell visit in Wigan?
A) Grimethorpe
B) Langham
C) Headingley
D) Bryn Hall
  • 100. What was the title of George Orwell's essay based on his experiences at Hôpital Cochin?
A) "The Spike"
B) "La Censure en Angleterre"
C) "How the Poor Die"
D) "A Farthing Newspaper"
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